A conversation over at Johanna Draper-Carlson’s blog brings up the discussion of what TV shows you’d like to see on DVD, but most likely won’t. I know I discussed what’s left to put out on DVD here last year, but this is a different angle on that. And the more I think about it, the more interesting answers come to mind:

VR.5: The most obvious answer in my mind. It was released on VHS back in the day, but they replaced the soundtrack. Sadly, I bet they’d do the same thing on DVD, and this is a show that NEEDS that original soundtrack.

(Trivial tangent: The first CD I ever bought was the VR.5 soundtrack. I didn’t get a CD player until six months later, for Christmas 1995.)

Orleans: Created by one of the VR.5 creators. Starred Larry Hagman. Ensemble drama show. Don’t think it lasted past 6 or 8 episodes, but remember it was incredibly lush for a network drama of the time. Might even have aired in widescreen mode at a time when widescreen TVs weren’t yet common. (Many shows were already taped that way for futureproofing sake — “Babylon 5″ and “Adventures of Lois & Clark” amongst them — but none aired those versions.) The big brouhaha at the time the series debuted was the brother/sister who were, uhm, getting it on in the pilot. I think they were only half-siblings, but let’s not think too much about it, OK?

Two: Syndicated show. Lasted one season. Starred Michael Easton, of VR.5 fame, and now a soap opera star. He played twin brothers. One was good, one was evil. In the wake of VR.5, I hopped on board to be the FAQ maintainer for the series, got a hold of the press materials for it and everything. The show tanked.

Spy Game: Short-lived 90s show (ABC, maybe?) that was, as I recall, half comedy and half drama. I didn’t realize until I looked it up that it was created or produced by Sam Raimi. Hunh. I have an ep or two sitting on VHS tape somewhere. I should dig that out.

Time Traxx: Still in the mid- to late-1990s, this was a series on the new UPN channel. Time travelling cop comes to the past to prevent a bad future. Something like that. I enjoyed it at the time. I get the feeling it wouldn’t hold up today for me.

Viper: I want both the original expensive NBC season, and the syndicated version that aired later, filmed much more cheaply in Vancouver. The original driver from the NBC show suddenly appeared on it after a season or two.

Bonkers: Nah, I’m kidding. I never want to see this one. I was just reminded of it while watching an Animaniacs episode on DVD the other day where they made two separate jokes about the series. “Bonkers” may have been the nadir of the Disney Afternoon animated line-up, that started off so strongly with Gummy Bears, DuckTales, TaleSpin, and Rescue Rangers. Bonkers was, as I recall, a talking cat on the police force. Or his owner was a cop? I don’t know. It was awful.

You Can’t Do That on Television: I don’t want the Alanis Morisette years. I don’t care. I want the original seasons that I watched as a kid. My daughter needs to see slime in a few years, right?

Any other obscure shows you’d like to see?